No secret talks with Saudi Arabia over Iraq: Iran

Press TV -(Sat Jul 5, 2014) Iran has dismissed reports about having sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia to discuss the latest political developments in neighboring Iraq.

In a statement, the Iranian Embassy in Riyadh rejected reports that the Islamic Republic had sent officials to Saudi Arabia for secret talks on Iraq’s future political make-up, IRNA reported Saturday.
“The formation of an Iraqi government and the appointment of a premier is an internal issue which concerns the country’s nation, political parties, [and] groups…and it will obviously take place according to the country’s constitution, and based on the result of Iraq’s recent parliamentary elections,” it said.
Iraqi lawmakers are yet to form a new government as they failed in their first session of parliament on Tuesday to make any progress. The lawmakers will subsequently have to choose a president and prime minister for the country.
The political impasse in Iraq comes as the Iraqi forces are pressing ahead with their fight against Takfiri militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who have taken control of large swathes of the country and threatened to take the battle to the capital, Baghdad.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that the country’s security forces would fully confront the terrorists.
The UN said on Tuesday that violence has claimed the lives of 2,417 Iraqis in June, making it the deadliest month so far this year.
The figures released by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) put last month’s civilian death toll at 1,531, with 886 security forces killed. UNAMI added that 2,287 Iraqis, including 1,763 civilians, were wounded.
More than one million people have been also displaced in Iraq so far this year, according to the United Nations.